Jefferson Parish public school teachers protest outside a School Board meeting on June 6.Mark Waller, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

A+PEL advertises itself as a professional teachers organization that offers benefits similar to those offered by the union, including liability insurance, professional development, legal advice and updates on education-related policy issues at the local, state, and national levels. It does not, however, participate in collective bargaining.

After initially asking the district in September for permission to recruit members, this week, the group will begin sending information to principals about the organization. On Dec. 5, the group will hold an informational session to meet with interested teachers; the Jefferson Parish School Board is meeting that day.

Though the organization isn't entirely new to the district -- it has 16 members, all of whom had been members before coming to Jefferson Parish -- it is hoping to increase recruitment efforts now that the union's contract, which previously barred competing teacher organization from entering the district, has expired.

The union and the School Board are currently in negotiations to write up a new union contract. However, School Board members and union leader Meladie Munch said they didn't anticipate that the new organization would cause any source of tension among union members. "I think it's an opportunity for teachers to see what else is out there outside of the current organization that has been in Jefferson Parish for so long," School Board President Mark Jacobs said.

Interim Executive Director Polly Broussard said A+PEL, which has 7,000 members statewide, wanted to move into the parish as a way of offering alternatives for teachers. While the organization offers similar union benefits, Broussard said that the group prides itself on not getting directly involved in politics and keeping the best interest of students in mind above all else.

"We like to say our focus is on students," Broussard said. "We do not think that our problems can be resolved through hard nosed-tactics employed by teacher unions. They believe they're sitting at the table for salaries and working schedules for teachers and there's more to teaching than that."